Key case



Jan. 27. 1925.

G. E. PRENTICE KEY CASE Filed June 9. 1923 I rzv-a r2 r017:

Patented Jan, 27, 1925.

UNITED STATES GEORGE E. PRENTIOE, OF BERLIN, CONNECTICUT.

KEY CASE.

Application filed June 9,

To (ZZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE E. Pnnn'rion, a citizen of the United States, residing at Berlin, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Key Cases, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in key-cases of the form having an enclosing body of leather or other flexible material and a plurality of spring clip devices for individually supporting the keys and which clip devices are supported from a metal plate that is applied to the leather body or casing, and the object of my improvement is to produce a structure for the purpose mentioned in which the individual spring clip devices are operatively connected with the metal supporting plate by means of a oint of relatively simple form andiof suchcharacter as to permit of movements through an appreciable angular extent that involves a combination of a pivotal movement in a direction that may be defined as upward and downward or in a vertical plane and a second movement having the character of a lateral bodily swinging or at right angles to the vertical plane, with the resultant movement for the different spring clip devices such as to permit of substantial free movement for the keys supported by the spring clip devices individually and as a whole facilitating the nesting of the keys within the casing when in the closed condition.

In the accompanying drawing Figure 1 is a front elevational view of my improved key-case with the flaps in the open position, exposing the individual hangers or clip devices and a few keys that are supported thereby.

l igure 2 is a similar view on an enlarged scale of the supporting plate and adjacent parts.

Figure 3 is an edge view of the same, the casing back wall being shown in section.

Figure 4: is a rear view of the same, with part of the casing wall broken away.

Figure 5 is a sectional view on the line 55 of Fig. 3.

My improved key-case comprises a body or casing 10 that has a back wall 11 and a pair of side flaps 12 that are adapted to close over at the front and lap over one another, the said flaps 12 being provided with cooperating clasp or looking devices 13.

1923. Serial No. 644,452.

Mounted on the back wall 11 and positioned at the upper portion thereof is a metal supporting plate 14 that is secured to said back wall 11 by means of a plurality of eyelet rivets 15 or in any proper manner.

T he hangers 16 are similar to devices that are in common use, comprising at the lower portion a hook 17 and a keeper 18 therefor that are held in resilient engagement under normal conditions and that can be forced apart to admit or remove a key.

The upper end portion 19 of the hanger 16 is in the form of an eye or loop that is substantially closed, the structure being formed of wire, the two ends or arms of the said eye or loop 19 merging respectively with the hook 17 and the keeper 18.

The means for operat-ively connecting the eye 19 with the plate 14; are special. as will be described.

Elaid plate 14L is provided with a set or series of openings 20 that correspond in number to the number of hangers 16, there being in the case shown six such openings and each being of circular form.

In each of said openings 20 is housed a short tie piece or bar 21 that is rounded or bent into substantially semicircular form; that projects forwardly in loop form from the face of the plate 14; that has the ends positioned back of the plate 14 at the border walls of said opening 20 in each case; and is located in a transverse diametral plane.

Furthermore, said tie piece or bar 21 rigidly secured. in place so that it is adapted to operate as a forwardly projecting loop or eye for receiving and supporting the eye or loop 19 on the hanger 16. Also, the char-- acter of such support is such as to permit of a pivotal movement of the hanger in a vertical plane with the portion of said bar 21 with which the hanger is engaged operating as a pintle and at the same time to allow of a bodily swinging lateral shifting of the hanger, using the bar 21 as a track and involving a sliding engagement of the parts, the character of such lateral movement or shifting being determined by the shape of the bar 21 and the amount of clearance allowed between the cooperating parts.

The holes 20 are located along a straight line in proper spaced relation and are positioned in a portion 22 of the plate 14 that is in the form of a diminutive platform that it itself positioned by means of suitable bends in the material of the plate in slightly lOF;

forwardly olf-set relation to the body por-' tion 23' thereof. Thus there is'providedat the rear 01": the platform 22 and between the same and the leather back 11 a housing space 24 for the supporting ends of the loop bar 21 mentioned that are tucked back of the border portions of the opening 20 in each case.

There may be provided a backing 25 for the housing space"2 lin the form of flangelike extension of the plate 14: at the upper endand that is brought tothe closing position by means ofareturnbend at'the upper ed'g'e'portion 260i the platform 22.

Means are thus provided for positively extends for substantially the entire" width of the plate let and that is suitably bent at' proper intervals to provide'the loop-like bars 21 whic'liare virtually off-sets of the material of the bar body or strip as awhole.

The'construction shown and described provides for appreciable freedom of movement in handling the keys thatare supported by thehahgers and is sufiicient to meet the requirements for practicable use in many cases, though lacking in the detail of full rotative movement that is provided in the structure that is shown and described in my application filed May 16, 1923, Serial No. 639,225.

I claim as my invention 1. A key-case comprising an enclosing case 'havinga back wall and a supporting plate-securedto saidback wall, individual hangers forkeys in the form of spring clips having supporting-eyes at one end, said plate having holescorresponding in number to the number of clips, and individual fixed supporting devices for said hangers projecting forwardly from-said holes, said supportingdevices being each in the form of a barprojecting in curved form, extending dia-metrally across the hole, and with portions'positioned back of the border'wall portions of the hole.

2. A key-case as described in claim 1, said bars being portions of a single bar structure that extends across all of the openings and is provided with bent portions that register with the different openings and serve as the individual supporting devices.

GEORGE E. PRENTICE. 

